Students put peace politics first

University students have historically played an active role in politics, often in the vanguard of the movement for change. For students at Birzeit University on the West Bank, politics, in the shape of the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis, is the central issue in the coming student council elections.

The drive to the Ramallah campus from Jerusalem confirms a reduced Israeli army presence in the main towns and villages. But patrols and military bases are still in evidence, and casual conversation on campus continues to revolve around detentions and road blocks rather than examinations and reading lists.

The present student council is a coalition of parties, including Hamas and left-wing Palestinian movements, opposed to the peace process. Candidates from Yasser Arafat's Fatah organisation are their main contenders, trying to win back the council after losing it for the first time in a decade.

November's inter-communal conflict in Gaza which resulted in 14 deaths has done nothing to promote consensus between the two political camps although there are areas of co-operation.

Last year's election to the nine-member council, scheduled for December 7, was postponed for a maximum of three months while a proportional representation system was introduced to replace the current system in which the party or coalition list first past the post takes all the positions.

For the past two years the peace process has been the dominant issue in student politics at Birzeit. Both the chair and deputy chair of the student council have been detained by the Israeli authorities since June 29 1993.

The only official available to talk about the role of the student union and its activities was Nasser Al Himdi, a spokesperson for the coalition Islamic Front. He says the emergence of an openly political platform for the student elections is a result of the influence of Israeli occupation on people's lives.

"We are here to represent the students, and the occupation is the most important issue for the students," he says.

Other students agree. One said: "Our identity as Palestinians comes before our identity as students. I expect the student council to be political because without an end to the occupation, we cannot have a normal life, either as Palestinians or as students."

Despite these distractions, the council has been active on more conventional student welfare issues. A series of discount agreements with more than 20 local shops and services have been negotiated. A student laundry service has been organised and the union operates several on-campus cafeterias.

But a dearth of regular and effective links with other organisations suggests that the student council may find it difficult to have an influence beyond its own members. Relations with the university administration resemble those in Britain; often confrontational, but usually amicable.

Despite this, there is no official student union presence on university administrative or academic bodies. Student representation is organised through the faculties.

Links with other student bodies are patchy and tend to be ad hoc. An umbrella committee for the Palestinian student unions coordinates action on a national basis and there have been temporary links with overseas student unions. Contact with Israeli student unions is rare.

Questions about union finances bring a rare smile to Mr Nasser's face. "We do get some support from the university and overseas donors also make a significant contribution." With no paid officers the union's costs are minimal and there are many people willing to give their time and other resources free.

"The finances of the students are more important to us than those of the union and we have organised protests over financial hardship caused by cuts in bursaries and increases in tuition fees," he says. These protests were widespread, disrupting the start of the academic year and leading to temporary campus closures.

Placing student politics on a rejectionist platform has clear dangers. Resources targeted at protesting against the peace process might be better used to improve facilities and support during what is, for many, a financially and socially unstable period.

But Mr Nasser says: "The students themselves are divided along lines that reflect wider political forces. Student politics is merely a reflection of this."

In many respects, the political agenda of the ruling student union coalition at Birzeit could be seen as unrealistic. The peace process is moving ahead and even Hamas has altered its rhetoric to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation-Israel agreements. However, the position of the Islamic Front candidates in the coming student elections at Birzeit retains a note of defiance.

"We don't feel that the peace process is in the best interests of the Palestinian community," says Mr Nasser. "The agreements between the PLO and Israel will result in more conflict, not less."